Data shows almost 25 per cent rise in number of reported crimes in Warwickshire over 12-month period

Staff reporter

Recorded crimes increased in number by almost 25 per cent in Warwickshire over a 12-month period annual statistics show.

The data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that 39,638 crimes were recorded across the county between June 2016 and the same month this year.

Philip Seccombe NNL-170131-170213001

In the same period between 2015 and 2016 there were 31,966 crimes logged - a rise of 7,762.

The two most common crimes reported were thefts, of which 17,742 incidents were recorded, and violence against the person, of which there were 11,502 cases.

These figures showed a rise of 21 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

Superintendent Andrew Nolan, of Warwickshire Police, said:

“We remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities and continue to do everything we can to reduce and tackle crime.

“Although the latest Warwickshire figures show an increase in reported crime, this firstly reflects the national trend and locally is due to a number of factors including crime recording improvements and increased trust and confidence in reporting by victims.

“We are extremely pleased that our latest figures show that 86 per cent of victims are satisfied by the service they have received from us.”

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe added: “The rise in recorded crime gives an illustration of the pressures policing is currently under, both locally and nationally.

“As the ONS notes, some of the rise is caused by changes to police recording practices and it will take a number of years before we can be confident that we have a true baseline against which we can measure the force’s performance. “Equally, percentage changes can sometimes be misleading when dealing with smaller numbers and it remains the case that Warwickshire is a low crime area.

“There is little doubt, however, that there have also been genuine rises in some categories of crime. Some of this is welcome – such as increased reporting of hate crime – but rises in other types of crime such as burglary and violence offences are more concerning. Combined with an expanding population, increases in recorded crime mean that officers are dealing with increased workloads against a backdrop of reducing resources.

“In the last 12 months I have made significant investments in advanced technology to support frontline policing, which are helping to reduce bureaucracy and free up more officer time to focus on detecting crime and supporting victims. “Warwickshire Police is also continuing with its major programme of modernisation to ensure that it focuses its efforts on tackling the offences which cause significant harm to our communities and to individuals.

“In the meantime, I am continuing to argue the case with government that there needs to be increased investment in policing and I will continue to hold the Chief Constable to account to ensure that our policing resources are used to the best possible effect.”

Nationally, forces registered 5.2 million offences in the year to the end of June, which was up by 13 per cent on the previous 12 months.

The number of violence against the person crimes logged by police went up by a fifth, or 19 per cent, to 1.2 million.

Statistician John Flatley, of the Office for National Statistics, said: “Today’s figures suggest that the police are dealing with a growing volume of crime.

“While improvements made by police forces in recording crime are still a factor in the increase, we judge that there have been genuine increases in crime – particularly in some of the low incidence but more harmful categories.”

“Police figures cannot provide a good measure of all crime in society, since we know that a large volume of it never comes to their attention. The recent increases in recorded crime need to be seen in the context of the overall decline in crime indicated by the Crime Survey for England and Wales.”

“The Survey remains our best guide to long-term trends for crime as experienced by the population in general.”